"Cloud Atlas" Book Discussion- lunch

Decorah
Public Library will host two discussions of David Mitchell’s “Cloud Atlas” in
July: an evening discussion at 7 p.m. Mon. July 29 and a brown bag lunch
discussion at 12 p.m. Wed. July 31. Copies of the book are available for
check-out at the front desk of the library.

In this bestselling novel, Mitchell weaves history,
science, humor, and suspense through six separate but related narratives, each
set in a different time and place, each written in a different prose style, and
each broken mid-action only to be concluded in the second half of the book.

A reluctant voyager
crossing the Pacific in 1850; a disinherited composer seeking a precarious
livelihood in between-the-wars Belgium; a high-minded journalist in Governor
Reagan’s California; a vanity publisher fleeing his gangland creditors; a
genetically modified “dinery server” on death-row; and Zachry, a young Pacific
Islander witnessing the nightfall of science and civilization—the narrators of “Cloud Atlas”hear each other’s echoes down
the corridor of history, and their destinies are changed in ways great and
small.

David Mitchell has
written five novels, two of which were shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Born
and raised in England, he lived for a year in Sicily, then moved to Hiroshima,
Japan, where he taught English to technical students for eight years before
returning to England. After another stint in Japan, he currently lives in
Ireland with his wife Keiko and their two children.

“Cloud Atlas” is now a major
motion picture starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon, and Hugh Grant,
and directed by Lana and Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer.

The
book discussion is free and open to all; no registration necessary. Call
Kristin at 563-382-3717 with questions.